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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27792157">As Long As You Love Me So</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Penstrokes_and_Daydreams/pseuds/Penstrokes_and_Daydreams'>Penstrokes_and_Daydreams</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Far Cry 5 Christmas Jukebox [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Far Cry (Video Games), Far Cry 5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Cheesy, F/M, Fluff, Holiday, Humor, Mistletoe, The deputy has a big fat crush, Wheaty is a teenager and acts like it</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 14:42:13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,320</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27792157</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Penstrokes_and_Daydreams/pseuds/Penstrokes_and_Daydreams</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The first in a series of short holiday fics. </p><p>The deputy and Eli deal with snowfall and also emotions. Smooches are had.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Deputy | Judge/Eli Palmer, Female Deputy | Judge/Eli Palmer</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Far Cry 5 Christmas Jukebox [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2033305</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>As Long As You Love Me So</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>The first song on our jukebox series: Let it Snow! Join me throughout the season for fun festive fics. Each will stand alone and have its own characters and ratings. First up: Eli!<br/>It's just short and simple and sweet. An uncomplicated mood booster.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Winter didn’t settle in the Whitetails so much as it landed like a shovel to the back of the skull. It came early, sudden, and extreme. The militia and the Peggies alike froze their activities to focus on things like not literally freezing to death. The Deputy was lucky enough to be around the Wolf’s Den for the first major snowfall. Some of the members had migrated back to personal bunkers or holed up in their own homes now that the Reaping wasn’t as much of a threat, so there was plenty of room. Eli had invited her to stay the morning she’d headed for the main door only to be met with a notice to use another entrance because of snowfall and Rook had, when faced with the wrath of nature, accepted.</p><p>She’d also accepted his invitation to dig out said entrances, which was a mistake. It was ten degrees below zero outside and she was supposed to be able to handle a shovel. If it wouldn’t freeze her lip off she might actually pout. Eli was determined to see the job done, though, and she wasn’t going to just leave him there. At least it was sunny. And Tammy made great coffees, which were probably waiting for them back inside because when she wasn’t torturing people she was actually very thoughtful. And Rook’d done worse with a shovel. The thought made her waver, killed the happy mood momentum she’d been building up during her stay. The rest she’d gotten over the past few days had been nice, but it had given everything she’d done time to catch up with her. There had been some tough times, but Eli was… she struggled to describe: a big help? a good friend? the man she loved?</p><p>Rook snuck a glance at him. He was a hard worker and a compassionate person and not too bad on the eyes at all. Who was she kidding, she was absolutely head over heels for him. How he felt about her was a bit more of a mystery though. She knew he was fond of her, maybe admired her, but love? He’d always been a perfect gentleman, even when she’d rather him not be. It was probably stupid not to say something since they had the whole ‘could die any day’ thing happening, but if he was still pining for his ex-wife or if he wanted to be professional or-</p><p>“Stand still too long and you’ll turn into an ice sculpture, dep.”</p><p>Guilt hit her like a freight train, breaking her out of her thoughts,  “I’m sorry, I just-“</p><p>“Hey,” He interrupted gently, one hand coming to her elbow, “If you need a break you can take one. This is just a chore, Rook, hardly life of death.”</p><p>Everything was life or death with her lately and the closest thing she got to a breather had been digging through abandoned bunkers pretending the owner wasn’t dead outside the door. He cared about her, did more to take care of her than she did herself of late.</p><p>“I’m fine, really, I just zoned out.”</p><p>Before he let go he gave her arm a quick squeeze, “It’s supposed to snow again right after dark anyway, we’ll go on in.”</p><p>“No, I can-“</p><p>He leveled her with a soft, firm look that would have melted her completely in warmer weather. As it was she just thawed a bit around the edges.</p><p>“Alright, not like it’s a hard sell.”</p><p>The trek back to the main door of the bunker involved a lot of balancing on tricky slopes and slippery rocks, which turned out to be an excellent excuse for her hand to be in Eli’s. It may have been wishful thinking, but she was pretty sure he was squeezing her a little tighter than was strictly professional. He even held the door and took her shovel while she slid down the ladder.</p><p>When they were both on the ground Rook took the time to furiously rub feeling back into her fingers and her face while they adjusted to the warmth of the bunker. The aches and prickles were a horrible sensation that she never really got used to no matter how often it happened. Judging from the face Eli was making he felt the same way. She had to put real effort into not staring at him and grinning like a fool. He was cute.</p><p>Not that it made much of a difference whether she’d stared or not because they’d barely got their coats off when Wheaty burst in with a cellphone and screamed, “Kiss cam!”</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“Kiss cam!” He pointed to a sprig of mistletoe right above the entrance… right above the pair of you.</p><p>It was a good thing her face was already red with the cold. But Eli just laughed softly, “If you’re alright with it, dep? Don’t wanna break tradition.”</p><p>She nodded, very much alright with it; more than alright with it. So he gently put one hand on the side of her face and pressed his mouth to hers. This wasn’t a peck like she was expecting either, it was a full-blown intimate, tender kiss that made her toes curl in her boots. His lips moved slowly and carefully against hers, like she might bolt at any moment and like he’d let her. Without any conscious thought on her part she slung her arms around his shoulders to keep him close.</p><p>“Uh, guys? That’s good. You can stop now. Eli? Deputy? We’re all good, you can stop. Please?”</p><p>Eli was fighting a smile against her, and finally they had to pull apart or risk cracking up. Wheaty still had his phone out, but his expression was one only teenagers who were forced to deal with the idea that adults had love lives could pull off. He gave a half-hearted fist pump and “Kiss cam,” and wandered off to do whatever it was he thought would bleach his brain out.</p><p>The Whitetail leader sighed and slung his arm around Rook’s shoulders, “Not that I regret a second of that, but what’s he planning on doing with that video? And who else has he caught?”</p><p>“I don’t wanna know. But hey, he can’t exactly broadcast it over the radio.”</p><p>Eli laughed again and Rook’s stomach did a little dance about it, “You don’t know how long I’ve wanted to do that.”</p><p>She laid her head against him, “I’ve wanted you to do that for a long time. I care a lot about you.”</p><p>He leaned over and kissed her forehead, “You’re a very special woman, Deputy. Never really known anybody like you.</p><p>If we go finish digging that entrance out we’ll have to go through that door at least twice.”</p><p>Wrinkling her nose, Rook took his hands and tugged him towards the common area. Tammy was watching a Hallmark movie that looked like it had been recorded to VHS back in the 90’s. They fell onto the couch together and set about arranging limbs into comfortable positions. All the shuffling prompted the other woman in the room to turn the volume on the tv up but she barely spared them a glance. <br/>Rook guessed this wasn’t exactly a surprise to her. Heaven knew she’d gone to the woman moping about her supposedly unrequited crush before. Had Eli done the same?</p><p>“Tell you what, you don’t make me go back outside till there’s a positive two digit number on the thermometer and I’ll let you kiss me whenever you want.”</p><p>It was gonna snow through the night and probably the morning, and after that there’d be even more work of the honest variety. But right now she was curled up with the man she loved, close enough to smell the sharp, cheap soap they kept stocked on. Her toes had feeling in them again and Eli was smiling when he looked at her.</p><p>“You’ve got a deal.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>How many hapless victims does Wheaty's mistletoe trap have? What will he do with the footage? I will never answer those questions but my best guess is a YouTube cringe compilation as soon as he has wifi again. I like Eli. He kept a good heart through everything and that's worth a lot.</p><p>Next up will probably be John but I am at the mercy of my muse.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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